The Sharpest Edge

by Stephanie Rowe

  Sean frowned. “Meeting you where?”

  “My flight is about to leave.”

  “Flight to where?”

  She hesitated. “I got a call from Chief Vega that Didi had been apprehended and I was needed to identify her. Chief Vega said an officer would meet my plane and take me to the station.”

  He knew the answer, but he asked anyway. “Billy, did you or any of your team contact Cheryl today and tell her to come out here?”

  Billy raised an eyebrow. “Nope.”

  He got back on the phone. “Cheryl, it’s a trap. Didi probably got your number from Kim’s phone….” Oh, hell. Kim would have done anything to keep Cheryl’s number from getting into Didi’s hands. If Didi had gotten it…not a good sign. His pulse whirled and he felt sick. “Don’t get on the plane. Go home.”

  “Does Didi have Kim? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “I think so.”

  “She’s crazy, Sean! Even Jimmy thought she was a wacko. She was so obsessed with him, she’d stop by the house in the middle of the night and bang on the front door until he went downstairs to talk to her. When he was away, she’d stalk me, waving a gun whenever no one was looking. You have to get Kim out of there!”

  “I know.” God, he knew.

  “I’m coming. She’s using Kim to get to me, so use me to find Kim.”

  Sean’s fingers curled around the phone. “I can’t do that. Kim would kill me if I put you in danger.”

  “And I’ll kill you if anything happens to her. She saved my life more than once and I owe her.”

  Sean couldn’t help but smile. “You Collins women are a pain in the butt.”

  “So are you. This is the deal, Sean. I’m getting on this plane and I’m coming out there. Some fake officer is going to be there to meet me and probably take me to Kim and Didi. You can help me or you can sit back. Either way, I’m coming. My plane boards in ten minutes. Call me back and let me know what to expect.” Then she hung up.

  Sean set the phone in his lap and looked at the room. “We have a decision to make.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “Wake up.”

  The sound of Didi’s voice jolted her awake and Kim jerked her head up. Ow. Pain. Brain felt fuzzy. Heavy. Thick.

  She struggled to focus. She was in a small, unfinished room. A cabin maybe? She could see trees out the window and the walls were raw wood. She was lying on a mattress, her wrists tied behind her back, her ankles bound and yanked up behind her, apparently attached to her wrists.

  Didi was standing at the foot of the bed, a smile on her face that made chills shiver down Kim’s spine. “Your sister is on her way here.”

  “What?” Kim tried to sit up, but the ropes took that option away from her. How long had she been tied up like this? Her shoulders were screaming, her legs numb.

  “I called the last number on your cell phone. She was more than happy to come out and identify me so I could be sent to prison.” Didi’s smile vanished. “Now I have both of you.”

  “Why do you want us? What did we do to you?”

  “You killed Jimmy.”

  Kim allowed disbelief to show on her face. “How?”

  “Your sister forced him to marry her, then you both set him up for a crime he didn’t commit and then you stole his career by sending him to prison. And then he died coming out here to get you.” She pulled a knife out from behind her back and slammed it into the bedpost.

  Kim flinched and black dots flickered across her vision. Not again. Not the knife. As the fear trickled into her mind and started to yank her sanity away, Kim slammed her eyes shut and fought it. The psychological battle between them wasn’t over. It hadn’t been Jimmy trying to weaken her with mind games. It had been Didi.

  Screw Didi. She wasn’t going to win.

  Kim forced herself to stare at the knife, to think. Assess. The way Sean would. How many knives did Didi have? That was the third one Kim had seen. Assimilate information. Find an opening.

  There had to be one.

  “You stole the man I love and you’ll die for it. You and your sister. For Jimmy, you will pay.” Then Didi spun on her heel and left, yanking the door shut behind her.

  Kim had to get away. Had to get out. Had to save Cheryl.

  “Kim.”

  A groggy groan from the corner made her jerk. She managed to roll to her other side and then gasped. Alan was lying on the floor, curled up in a ball, covered in blood and bruises. His wrists were handcuffed behind him, his face swollen and nearly unrecognizable.

  “Oh, my God, Alan!”

  “Carl’s in on it, too. Jerk hits hard.”

  “Oh, Alan, I’m so sorry.”

  He closed his eyes. “When she heard that I was John Ramsey in the police station that day, I became the final piece in her little game. She wanted me to kill you, thought I should be avenging Jimmy’s death. When I wouldn’t, I became the perfect scapegoat. You and Cheryl are going to die and I’m going to be set up for it.” He groaned. “She’s a sick woman, Kim. You need to get out of here.”

  “Oh, Alan. I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.” It was her fault. All her fault. She hadn’t trusted him. She’d even set him up with Didi. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s my own doing. I went with Didi just to tick you off. I was stupid. I didn’t even like her that much, and I thought it was strange when she declared herself my savior after you and Sean didn’t believe me. But I was too angry at you to question it.” He shook his head. “I’m the fool, Kim, not you.”

  “We were both stupid.”

  “And now we’re going to die.” He let his head fall to the floor. “Jimmy’s going to win, even though he’s dead.”

  “No!” She tugged at her ropes and pain shot through her shoulders. “We’re not going to die! Cheryl’s on her way here. We have to get free and warn her!”

  Alan managed to open his eyes slightly. “How? Every time I move or speak, Carl beats the hell out of me. What kind of boots does that man wear anyway?”

  Fierce anger raged through Kim at the thought of Carl and his boots. No one had the right to steal the people she cared about from her! “Can you walk?”

  “Broken ankles. No, I can’t walk. You?”

  “Tied up.” Think, Kim. Think.

  Alan cursed. “You don’t happen to have a gun on you, do you?”

  “Sorry. Left it at home.” They were in deep trouble.

  Very, very deep.

  SEAN SPOTTED CARL just before the passengers began to deplane. He was wearing a Ridgeport police uniform, including a badge. Looked legit, too.

  He met Billy’s eyes across the terminal. Billy was dressed like a vagabond, with long hair, torn jeans and faded sneakers. Sean was dressed the same, with sunglasses covering his eyes.

  Carl didn’t know them that well, but he might be looking for cops, so Sean and Billy decided to have the rest of the officers out of sight, on call to respond, but not on the front line. They were rookies and too much of a liability.

  But Carl wasn’t scanning for threats. He was staring at the passengers, watching them get off.

  Sean saw Cheryl before Carl did. She was walking with a slight limp, her shoulders erect and her blond hair done up in a smart bun. Her face looked wan and worried, but there was a defiance in her eyes.

  He knew she hadn’t changed her mind, and God help him if he failed her.

  She walked right up to Carl and introduced herself, and Sean had to force himself not to rush up there and rip her away from him. They needed her to find Kim.

  Something ached deep inside him at the thought of Kim at Didi’s mercy, but he shoved it aside. Now was not the time. But what if this didn’t work? Maybe they should close in now. Not give Carl a chance to walk away….

  “Let her go.” Billy’s voice crackled through his earpiece.

  Sean looked across the crowded terminal toward his friend. How had Billy known Sean was about to march over there and grab Cheryl and take Carl into custody? They�
�d decided it was too risky. If Carl didn’t talk or didn’t know enough, they might never find Kim until it was too late.

  But it was so much more difficult than he’d imagined to sit back and let Cheryl walk into danger, to let time pass while Kim was missing.

  His fingers twitched over his gun as Carl set his hand on Cheryl’s back and guided her through the crowd, slinging her carry-on bag over his shoulder. Sean melted into the throngs of travelers just behind the couple, but he was aware of Billy lurking on his right somewhere.

  They reached the door to the airport and Carl led Cheryl toward the short-term parking lot. Billy followed them.

  Sean went to his junker that ran like a dream, slipped behind the wheel and headed toward the exit of the parking garage.

  He’d been there a couple of minutes when Billy reported in. “They just got into a 2002 Toyota 4Runner. Maine plates, 692 XYG.”

  Sean waited until the car in question pulled out of the garage. “Got ’em.”

  He fell in behind them and radioed their position to Billy until he caught up.

  Carl might be able to lose one of them if he was trying, but not both of them.

  The two of them traded off trailing Carl, so neither car was in sight for an extended period of time.

  Two hours later, they were still playing the game and Sean was at the end of his patience. It was time to act.

  “ALAN!”

  He twitched, as if he’d fallen sleep. “What?”

  “You have to untie me. Before Didi comes back.”

  “I can’t move.”

  “I can.” She wiggled across the bed, biting her lip to keep herself from yelping from the discomfort. “I’m coming over.” She rolled off the bed, landing with a crash on the wooden floor. No way to stop the moan. Screaming pain wrenched through her shoulder and she had to lie there for a few moments to catch her breath. She was pretty sure she’d dislocated her shoulder. The room was spinning and she was sweating from the pain. “Alan?”

  “I’m here,” he said from behind her. “I need to adjust. Hang on.”

  He groaned with pain and she felt him thud against her. “Alan?”

  “Got it.” His fingers touched her wrists. “I can feel the knot.”

  She held her breath while his handcuffed hands went to work on the rope binding her. “Hurry.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Right.” Didi could walk in at any second. Carl could arrive with Cheryl. How would Sean ever find them? It was up to her and Alan.

  What would she do if Alan succeeded in untying her? She hadn’t gotten that far yet.

  WHEN CARL TURNED OFF onto a dirt driveway, Sean pulled up into the woods up ahead and Billy coasted to a stop in front of him. They met at the hood of Sean’s car and checked their weapons. “Through the trees?” Billy asked.

  “You take the front door. I’ll go around back.”

  Billy nodded, then clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll get them.”

  “Damn right.”

  “DO YOU STILL HAVE feeling in that scar?”

  Kim jerked at the sound of Didi’s voice. She was back.

  “Not talking, huh?”

  “Kimmy?”

  Kim lifted her head to see Cheryl standing in the doorway. Her hands were behind her back and her cheek was bruised, but her eyes were dry. No tears from Cheryl anymore. She wasn’t the same girl Jimmy had beaten up. Well, neither was Kim. “Did you have a nice flight?”

  Cheryl blinked, then nodded. “A little turbulence, but nothing too bad.”

  “Shut up.” Carl shoved Cheryl into the room. She stumbled and smacked into the corner of the bed frame, dropping to the floor in a crumpled heap.

  Unconscious, hopefully in the same way Alan was, which was not at all.

  Carl walked over to Alan and kicked him in the ankle. Kim flinched, but Alan didn’t move or make a sound. She had no idea how he managed to avoid reacting. “Still passed out? No tolerance for pain.”

  Didi held a knife up so Kim could see it. That made number four. “You’re sure those knots are tight enough, Carl?”

  “Yep. She won’t be able to get away from you.”

  Didi grinned at Kim. “You ready for some payback? We’ll start with you, then when your little sister wakes up, we’ll take care of her. It’s no fun to carve up unconscious people.”

  “No, I can’t imagine it is,” Kim said. “No screams of agony to enjoy.”

  Didi flicked the knife toward Kim. “Pretending not to be scared, eh? I don’t believe you.” But she looked annoyed.

  Good.

  “Want me to tie up the sister while she’s out?” Carl asked.

  “Yes.”

  Carl left the room to retrieve some cord and Didi curled her lips in a creepy imitation of a smile. “He’s such a good little boy. Amazing what men will do for a great lay, isn’t it?”

  Amazing what Didi did to the men she seduced. “Did you kill Will because he broke up with you?”

  Didi snorted. “You think that’s why I was crying? I was crying because your boyfriend told me Jimmy was dead. Dead! You killed him!” She clenched the knife tighter. “Will died because he was going to show you a picture of me and Jimmy he found in my purse. Thought he’d play hero just because I kicked him out of my bed. Dumb male.”

  Didi waved the knife and moved to the side of the bed, tracing her knife over Kim’s jeans, right above the scar. “I think we’ll start in a new place. How about your stomach? Nice and soft. Lots of important body parts to spill out. Sound like fun?”

  “Tons.” Kim gritted her teeth and forced herself not to move. Not yet….

  Didi lifted the knife and wrapped both fists around the handle for full power.

  Not yet….

  She reared back and brought it down.

  Now!

  Kim rolled to the right and the knife sliced the side of Kim’s leg and ripped into the bed. Before Didi could tug it free, Kim swung with her left hand, smashing the knife Didi had left in the bedpost into Didi’s hip. Too many knives, Didi. She’d been banking on the fact that Didi would bring in yet another knife and not miss the one in the bed.

  She’d guessed right.

  Didi screamed and fell to the floor, blood turning her fingers red as she clutched her side.

  Cheryl jumped to her feet and Kim crumbled to the mattress. “I hoped you were faking it.” Could her shoulder hurt more? It was definitely dislocated. Carl must have been messing around while she was unconscious. Jerk.

  And her leg. Blood was rushing out of it, just like before. The pain was so intense. So bad. She licked her dry lips and tried to focus on her sister, but the room was starting to waver. “Tie her up. My shoulder is shot.”

  “Is that your blood?” Cheryl grabbed the ropes and Didi kept screaming.

  “Not all of it.” Her vision began to blacken and she fought it. It wasn’t over. Couldn’t give up yet. “Carl…”

  At that moment, the door flew open and Carl jumped through it, aiming a gun at Kim’s chest. “You die now.” He cocked the gun and pulled the trigger.

  Gunfire exploded in the room, Cheryl shrieked, Kim ducked, the wall behind her exploded and Carl fell to the ground.

  Then Sean rushed through the door, his gun in his hand. “Kim!”

  Sean. She collapsed back on the bed. “About time you made it. What kind of a cop are you, anyway?” Was that her voice? It was some awful grating whisper that didn’t sound like her.

  He dropped next to her on the bed, his fingers brushing her, skimming over her leg, her mangled shoulder, her face. “Oh, God. Your leg. What happened to your shoulder?”

  She was vaguely aware of Chief Vega entering the room, of Cheryl going to talk to him, but all she wanted to concentrate on was Sean’s face. It was going in and out of focus and he looked sort of gray and fuzzy, so it wasn’t easy. “We won.”

  “Yeah, we did.” His forehead furrowed. “Kim?”

  No need to fight it anymore. It was over and Sean could c
lean up the mess. She let the blackness take over this time. Sean would take care of her.

  HER SHOULDER WAS killing her.

  And her thigh.

  And someone was holding her hand.

  Kim wrenched her eyes open to find Sean leaning over her, holding her hand against his lips. He smiled. “Hey.”

  “You were late.” He looked so worried, so tired. She wanted to touch his face, but she was too exhausted.

  “Sorry. You forgot to leave a map.”

  “My bad.” She looked around the room. “I’m at the hospital?”

  “Yep.” He caught her chin and made her look at him again. “You scared the hell out of me, passing out with all that blood gushing out of your leg.”

  “Really?” Somehow, the thought she could scare him sounded okay to her. “Cool. How’s Cheryl?”

  “Fine. Everyone’s fine. Didi’s going to live, but she’s going to jail. Same with Carl. They killed Will and Pete and tried to kill your dad. But that doesn’t matter.”

  “It doesn’t?”

  “No. See, here’s the thing. You’re wrong.”

  She frowned. “Maybe it’s the painkillers—” which weren’t working all that well, by the way “—but I’m really not following you.”

  “Your mom was right. When I was eighteen, I wanted you and your family. And I still do, but I want you more.”

  She blinked. “What are you talking about?” She had a feeling she didn’t want to misinterpret this one.

  “When you were off with Didi, I realized I couldn’t lose you again. If you left this time…” He shook his head. “Nope. I can’t allow it. If you won’t stay, I’m coming with you. After all, they probably have an open spot in Ramsey’s department, don’t you think?”

  She stared at him. “You’re going to move to L.A.? What about the camp?”

  “The camp doesn’t matter. Cheryl doesn’t want it, so your dad’s going to sell it.”

  “You’re not going to buy it?”

  “No.” He gripped her hand tighter. “Don’t you understand what I’m trying to say?”

  She smiled then. He was so going to have to say it. If he didn’t, she’d never believe it. “No, tell me.”

  “I love you. More than the camp. More than your dad. More than your family. I’ll ditch this town and move to California if you’ll marry me this time.” He let his breath out. “So? What do you say?”